Various technologies may allow a user to experience a mix of real and virtual reality. For example, some display devices, such as various head-mounted display (HMD) devices, may comprise a see-through display that allows superposition of virtual objects over a real-world environment. The virtual objects may appear integrated with the real-world environment when viewed by a wearer of the HMD device through the see-through display. Such a relationship between the virtual objects and the real-world environment may be referred to as augmented reality.
Simultaneous localization and mapping systems may provide augmented reality experiences. Typically, such tracking and mapping systems are dependent upon illumination and other visual aspects of the environment in which the user is operating. When the environment does not offer sufficient data to support tracking and mapping, applications or technologies may fail to operate, or may operate with a significant degradation in the user experience.
Users may utilize such tracking and mapping systems in a variety of real-world environments and in dynamic environments with varying amounts of data to support tracking and mapping. In some cases, a user may expect to use a tracking and mapping system to execute an augmented reality application in a particular environment. However, the environment may provide insufficient data to support effective tracking and mapping, causing the application to perform poorly and provide a disappointing user experience or to fail completely. Having limited or no information regarding the quality of the environment as it relates to a tracking and mapping system, the user may be unpleasantly surprised with the user experience. Further, a user may prevented from adjusting expectations of the user experience and/or choosing another activity or other application that may operate more efficiently.